Chapter 42 Almost attacked
Kai's POV
Dr. Voss is looking for Zara. I can't always keep her away from her. That's why I'm walking down to her room now even after knowing that she might not be in a physical state to see anyone or even receive visitors.
I don't know what's going on with her. So far, anytime she kills a wolf she takes their powers but today's kill was different. In a flash second, we were all talking and the next thing a junior is walking up to her to hit her. I don't know the reason why, but I'll find out soon. Next thing, the junior drops to the ground, dead, bones shattered.
But Zara doesn't remember anything that nah have happened. Because the next thing I hear is: "When did you get here Kai?"
I suppose she's having slips on her memory or something's working within her head. Who will be erasing her memories? I've seen red lights all over the academy, they look like scans. And with everything we've gone through so far, I don't know what to expect.
Is she getting better or is she getting worse?
A knock on the door and Mira's head pops out in their dorm.
"Dr. Voss has sent for Zara to be taken to the clinicals." I said
"Did someone snitch?" She asked.
"I don't know.... It happens sometimes." I responded.
"Cover up for her then." She said.
"I can't... Definitely not this time." I said.
She rubbed her hand around her temples before letting me into the room.
Her gaze lifted the moment I entered.
“Kai…? What are you doing here?” she asked quietly.
I swallowed hard.
“Dr. Voss is looking for you.”
She blinked, slow and confused.
“Looking for me? Why?”
I hesitated. I didn't want to talk about the junior lying dead in the cafeteria. I wasn’t in the headspace to lay out brutal truths. And she wasn’t in a state to carry them.
“Kai.” She stood.
“Talk to me.”
“Not now.” My voice came out rougher than I intended.
“I’m… not in the right place for conversations, Zara.
"I just need you to get dressed.”
She stared at me, searching for something in my face, maybe an explanation, maybe reassurance. Whatever she was looking for, I didn’t have it to give.
“Okay,” she breathed finally, turning away.
“Just… wait for me.”
She changed quietly, slipping into the academy’s grey uniform, tying her hair back with trembling fingers. I looked away to give her space, but truly it was because I couldn’t stand the guilt in my chest. I had failed to protect her today, and now I was escorting her to the one person from whom she needed protection.
When she was ready, she stepped beside me.
“Let’s go.”
The walk to the clinical wing felt like passing into another world bright lights, air thick with tension, the faint hum of hidden machines. Dr. Voss was waiting, arms folded, expression unreadable.
“Took you long enough,” she said, eyeing Zara as if inspecting a specimen.
“Sit.”
My wolf growled within me. We were both pissed with how Dr. Voss spoke to her.
Zara obeyed. I hated how she obeyed.
"I want to check you out." She said like she was talking to her next scape goat.
Zara just nodded with no words to offer her. She seemed tired.
Dr. Voss secured her wrists and ankles into the scan bed, soft straps, but still restraints. Then she placed a blindfold over Zara’s eyes.
“This is just an advanced sensory screen,” she said.
“She won’t feel pain.”
I didn’t trust her, not even a little, but I kept my jaw clenched and remained silent.
The machine activated, humming softly as thin lines of red light swept across Zara’s body in slow, precise arcs. After a moment, Dr. Voss nodded.
“I’m stepping out. Kai, monitor her vitals. Don’t move from this spot.”
The door slid shut behind her.
For a few minutes, everything was steady. The lights pulsed. The machine beeped. Zara breathed softly.
Then...
That familiar crackle shot through my skull.
Not again.
My vision fractured, human color draining into blunt grayscale. My bones twitched against my will. A voltage-like shock ran down my spine, as if someone pulled the strings inside me and jerked them upward.
“Kai?” Zara’s voice was soft behind the blindfold.
“Are you there?”
I tried to answer, but the voice that came out wasn’t mine.
“Protocol-override-detected.”
My throat burned as the alien voice forced its way out.
“Target proximity critical.”
I staggered forward.
“No no” I forced the words through clenched teeth. I wasn’t in control. My wolf surged, flickering in and out of my skin, fur, flesh, and bone, just shifting violently without completing the transformation.
I lurched at her.
Zara sucked in a sharp breath, sensing danger, but she didn’t scream. Didn’t beg. Didn’t tremble.
She just… waited.
Something cold, numb, terrifyingly calm had settled over her.
My clawed hand stopped inches from her throat.
Every muscle in my body locked. Trembled. Fought itself.
I dropped to my knees, choking on the mechanical echo ripping through my lungs.
“Move Zara, move!” I rasped, but she didn’t.
"Move please. Move!" I screamed as I felt an unknown energy overpowering me.
She only whispered.
"I’m not afraid of you, Kai.”
That broke me more than the glitch.
With a violent jerk, the control snapped. My body collapsed backward, panting, sweat dripping down my temples. The red scan lights faded from the machine.
I forced myself up, shaking uncontrollably.
“I lost it again,” I whispered.
“I almost”
I couldn’t finish the sentence. The guilt lodged too deep.
I unlatched the straps around her wrists, then her ankles, my hands still trembling.
“Kai… what happened?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” I managed.
“But I’m not risking being near you when it happens again.”
“Kai...“ She called.
"Zara please.... Please don't drag this issue.“ I stated
Before she could respond, I turned away.
And walked out.